Written to the prompt B is for Ball.
She Cleans The Tower Ballroom
She cleans the Tower Ballroom
Through the darkness of the night,
And when her shift is over
She lets her mind take flight.
She swaps her battered trainers
For strappy sequinned shoes
And glides onto the dance floor
To blow away her blues.
She takes up her position,
Elegant in foot and hand,
And in her head she hears applause
And music from the band.
She’s never short of partners:
Film stars, singers, men she’s known,
But anybody watching her,
Would say she danced alone.
She Charlestons, and she quicksteps
With perfection, style and skill;
She mambos and she tangos
With a deep exotic thrill.
She foxtrots and she waltzes,
Her footsteps so precise;
The joy she feels within her heart
Is far beyond all price.
She salsas, paso dobles,
With passion, strength and verve:
There’s poise in every movement
And life in every nerve.
The cha-cha-cha, merengue,
Rumba, jive – she knows them all;
She dances her full heart out
And she lifts that glitterball.
And then her show is over,
Dancing shoes are packed away,
But she’ll be back tomorrow night
To dance another day.
She has a taste of glory
Though no trophies line her shelf;
She cleans the Tower Ballroom and
She dances for herself.
© Carol Carman 2026
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